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In-Flight Validation of a Pilot Rating Scale for Evaluating Failure Transients in Electronic Flight Control SystemsEngineering development and qualification of a Research Flight Control System (RFCS) for the Rotorcraft Aircrew Systems Concepts Airborne Laboratory (RASCAL) JUH-60A has motivated the development of a pilot rating scale for evaluating failure transients in fly-by-wire flight control systems. The RASCAL RFCS includes a highly-reliable, dual-channel Servo Control Unit (SCU) to command and monitor the performance of the fly-by-wire actuators and protect against the effects of erroneous commands from the flexible, but single-thread Flight Control Computer. During the design phase of the RFCS, two piloted simulations were conducted on the Ames Research Center Vertical Motion Simulator (VMS) to help define the required performance characteristics of the safety monitoring algorithms in the SCU. Simulated failures, including hard-over and slow-over commands, were injected into the command path, and the aircraft response and safety monitor performance were evaluated. A subjective Failure/Recovery Rating (F/RR) scale was developed as a means of quantifying the effects of the injected failures on the aircraft state and the degree of pilot effort required to safely recover the aircraft. A brief evaluation of the rating scale was also conducted on the Army/NASA CH-47B variable stability helicopter to confirm that the rating scale was likely to be equally applicable to in-flight evaluations. Following the initial research flight qualification of the RFCS in 2002, a flight test effort was begun to validate the performance of the safety monitors and to validate their design for the safe conduct of research flight testing. Simulated failures were injected into the SCU, and the F/RR scale was applied to assess the results. The results validate the performance of the monitors, and indicate that the Failure/Recovery Rating scale is a very useful tool for evaluating failure transients in fly-by-wire flight control systems.
Document ID
20070018018
Acquisition Source
Ames Research Center
Document Type
Conference Paper
Authors
Kalinowski, Kevin F.
(QSS Group, Inc. Moffett Field, CA, United States)
Tucker, George E.
(NASA Ames Research Center Moffett Field, CA, United States)
Moralez, Ernesto, III
(NASA Ames Research Center Moffett Field, CA, United States)
Date Acquired
August 23, 2013
Publication Date
May 11, 2006
Subject Category
Avionics And Aircraft Instrumentation
Meeting Information
Meeting: American Helicopter Society 62nd Annual Forum
Location: Phoenix, AZ
Country: United States
Start Date: May 9, 2006
End Date: May 11, 2006
Sponsors: American Helicopter Society, Inc.
Distribution Limits
Public
Copyright
Other

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